No intent to kill bond, Rocky says

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson says he had reservations about the $192 million public safety bond but didn't intentionally sabotage it.

Anderson said he was simply answering questions from a reporter when he expressed concerns about the fairness of the proposed property tax increase and the scope of the project.

"The way this has been presented in the media ... is that I somehow carried out this opposition campaign at the last minute," Anderson said. "I didn't do that at all. I was keeping quiet. It was evident to everybody that I wasn't out there campaigning for the proposition, but I also wasn't taking a hard stance against it."

In retrospect, the mayor said he wishes he would have clearly expressed his reservations from the outset.

"I had real mixed feelings about it because I do want to see these facilities built," he said. "I just don't think this funding mechanism is at all fair."

The bond's failure means city officials will be looking for new ways to fund public safety facilities, which Anderson says "may be the best of both worlds. "We know that we need the facilities but we also know now that we need a different way of raising the money," he said.